Changing Earth

It was a great experience for all of us, studying Earth Sciences, which greatly enhanced our understanding about the planet on which we live. The trip was planned as a part of the course, to provide us an experience of how and where the fossils are found and how does a geologist infer prehistoric events from the patterns of rocks, activity of river and, the preserved remnants of living organisms in the region. The trip was arranged by the Dean (Students) and we were escorted by Prof. Ashok Sahani, our course instructor and his fellow Dr. Rajeev. Students assembled at institute gate from where we were taken to Sabathu by a bus. It was a splendid day and we learned to operate and use magnetic compass, GPS, and saw evidences of glaciations, Plate-tectonic activity, river course movement and evolution of organisms on earth.
The first stop was by a river-side in Parvanu where we saw the valley carved by a river. It was for the second time we looked at the process of meandering, formation of river terraces and valleys due to river activity and erosion of river-bed. The region also had rocks folded due to the tectonic movement of Indian plate against Asian plate.
Then came Sabathu where we observed the region of Himalayas where evidences of Tethes Sea could be seen as fossils of oysters and other marine creatures. As mentioned earlier we were aware of these facts but it was the first time when we met a chance to observe them. All of us were amazed after observing evidences of the tectonic activity and the destructive power of a few seemingly insignificant rivers. Most of us were much surprised after observing that most of these sites were in highly active places where thousands of people would pass by without even noticing these beautiful and important jewels of Earth’s creation.